Chief refers donkey rape case to the Magistrate’s Court

Well-known Limpopo traditional leader Hosi James Shigalo earned the respect of community members for the manner in which he handled the case in which a 74-year-old man is accused of raping a donkey.

Last Wednesday, the pensioner appeared in the tribal court after allegations that he had raped Mr Joel Baloyi’s donkey. Baloyi (62) told the tribal court that on 17 May he found the old man busy raping his donkey. He said that when he approached the scene, the accused expressed shock and apologised.

Baloyi said that he later went to the police to report the matter, but the police referred him back to the local community structures. On being requested by the community structure to discuss the issue, the accused refused and asked that it be sent to higher authorities. That is the reason it was sent to the traditional authority.

The old man denied that he had raped the donkey. He also said that he refused to communicate with the community structures, because the leaders hated him. He said on the day of the alleged incident, he had met Baloyi and told him he had taken some pieces of wood near his mealie field and that Baloyi had taken offence. “Before then we were on good terms.”

Baloyi said that it was not the first time that the accused had raped his donkey and that he was aware that he had done the same in 2015. The accused, however, told the tribal court that he suffered from erectile dysfunction and was not able to rape the donkey. He also said his wife had died two years previously and he had a lover from the same village.

When the tribal court asked him how he could live with his lover while he suffered from erectile dysfunction, he said: “She is my lover, because she cooks and washes clothing for me.”

Hosi Shigalo told the tribal court that he was not supposed to handle rape cases and referred the matter to the Magistrate’s Court.

Date:01 June 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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